‘God in America’ deserves thoughtful praise

From Boston

The battle for America’s soul is older than the country itself.

PBS’ provocative three-night, six-hour miniseries “God in America,” a co-production of WGBH’s “Frontline” and “American Experience,” traces the spread and role of religion in the United States and determines that faith was integral to the nation’s growth. But tonight’s two-hour opener also persuasively argues that the right to freedom of worship is a result of the civil victory to be free from religion.

Through the use of archival footage, court transcripts and actors’ interpretation of journals and letters, “God” re-creates some of the divisive struggles that shook our forefathers.

Written, directed and produced by David Belton, tonight’s installment opens with the Spanish missionaries’ struggle to convert Pueblo Indians to Christianity in the 1600s. The proselytizing ends with a bloody uprising that drives the Spanish out of New Mexico in 1680.

Massachusetts Gov. John Winthrop tries to rule a Puritan stronghold in 1629, believing the more pious his community, the more prosperous it will be. As played by “Lost’s” Michael Emerson, Winthrop comes off as Ben Linus on another island time trip. Conformity is key, and unconventional thinkers are banished. But the old ways will not work in the New World.

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